Inherent powers are permanent powers that a Hero or Villain automatically has without having to select them during training. There are Inherent powers that are Archetype-specific, Origin-specific, and open to all characters. Not all Inherent powers are available at level 1.

Origin-Specific Powers

Every character receives a minor ranged attack power that depends on his or her origin. For more information, see Origin Powers.

Archetype-Specific Powers

The following inherent powers are specific to the archetypes available in City of Heroes and City of Villains.

Assassination

A Stalker does his best work when attacking from ambush. When properly 'Hidden", a Stalker can pull off Critical hits with his attacks, and even land a massive 'Assassins Strike' with an assassin's power. Assassin Strikes made from hide will Demoralize the Stalker's foes leaving them with a reduced chance to hit and has a chance to terrorize them. Additionally, a Stalker has a 10 percent base chance to critically hit, which is increased by an additional 3 percent per member in your party, against non-player enemies. Stalkers have a chance to land a critical hit against players if they are Held or Slept. Each of the Stalker's damaging powers within their primary power set, other than Assassin's Strike, have a chance to grant the Stalker a stack of Assassin's Focus. Each stack of this buff boosts Assassin's Strike's chance to critically (hit while the user is not hidden) by 33.3%. Assassin's Focus stacks up to 3 times.

Combat Flight

For hovering and aerial combat. This power is much slower than Energy Flight, but provides some Defense, offers good air control, costs little Endurance, and has none of the penalties associated with Energy Flight. Switch to this mode when fighting other flying foes.
Also See: Hover

Containment

Controllers are the masters at locking down and controlling their opponents. Few can escape their will. Controllers do extra damage to any target that is already Held, Immobilized, Slept, or Disoriented.

Critical Hit

The Scrapper is a fierce melee combatant. In hand to hand, no other hero can compare. All Scrapper melee attacks have a chance to land a Critical Hit for up to double damage. The higher the rank of the target, the greater the chance for a successful Critical Hit.

The standard chance of a Critical Hit is 5% against players, pets, and critters of Minion rank and below, and 10% against critters above Minion.

Defiance

Blasters’ earliest abilities come so naturally to them, that they are accessible even in states that normally prevent them from using powers, such as being Held, Slept or Stunned. Additionally, each time the Blaster attacks with a primary or secondary power, they gain a stacking damage bonus for the next several seconds. The amount of the damage bonus and its duration is dependent on the exact power used, with single target abilities generally giving the largest bonus.

The current version of Defiance was released on December 11, 2007. Prior to that, it worked differently. See the main article for more details.

Domination

Nothing delights a Dominator more than inflicting pain. When a Dominator attacks, his sadistic nature grows. When your Domination bar is over 90% you can activate this power to unleash his true potential. Your control powers will typically last 50% longer and will more easily Dominate stronger opponents. Additionally, you will completely recover your Endurance. Domination lasts for 90 seconds and recharges in 200 seconds. The recharge can be reduced by self and ally buffs, but cannot be slotted with enhancements.

Domination protects the villain from Knockback/Knockup, Repel, Disorient, Hold, Sleep, Immobilize, Fear, and Confuse effects, and can be activated even while suffering from them to break the villain free.

Domination doubles the magnitude of the villain's own Disorient, Hold, Sleep, Immobilize, Fear, and Confuse effects for their normal durations, then keeps them going at normal magnitude for half that amount of time longer. Debuffs and other secondary effects are not improved.

A Dominator's Domination level is shown by an orange bar between Endurance and Experience Points. It rises each time he attacks. It rises faster if the Dominator has more teammates. This is a mild effect with one or two teammates, but on a large team Domination can be brought from 0 to over 90% with fewer than ten attacks. The Domination level falls very slowly when not used. It's automatically reduced to zero 90 seconds after Domination is activated.

Energy Flight

Energy Flight allows you to travel long distances quickly. If you attack a target while this power is on, your Flight speed will be temporarily reduced. Your Energy Flight speed increases with your Level. Also See: Fly

Fury

As a Brute engages in combat, it unleashes his Fury. The longer he remains in combat, attacking and being attacked, the more damage he deals.

A Brute's Fury level is shown by an orange bar between Endurance and Experience Points. It rises each time he makes an attack or is attacked himself (regardless of hit or miss). The speed at which it rises is directly proportional to the recklessness of the Brute.

Gauntlet

Although many try, few can withstand the irresistible force of the Tanker. Each time a Tanker attacks, he enrages the target, and those around him, enticing them to attack the Tanker. Each punch continues to provoke your enemies and allows the Tanker to do what he does best.

Gauntlet -- also referred to as "PunchVoke" -- causes the Tanker's AoE attacks and auras to taunt every PvE enemy they affect. Their single-target attacks taunt the enemy hit and up to four more around it. Gauntlet has reduced chances of affecting exceptionally high-rank foes like Giant Monsters, and even worse chances of affecting other players in PvP.

Brutes possess a smaller version of this power, occasionally labeled as "PokeVoke" by the community, as it does not possess an official name. The Brute's version of Gauntlet does not apply in PvP, and their single-target attacks only taunt the one target hit.

Scourge

The Corruptor is a dastardly villain indeed. As a Corruptor's foe health wanes, the Corruptor can start to land Scourge hits with his attack powers for up to double damage. The weaker the target is, the greater chance the Corruptor has of landing Scourge. Once a foe is weak enough, there is no escaping the Corruptor's wrath. A Corruptor shows no mercy.

Scourge offers no chance of critical damage until the target has less than 50% health. The chance then smoothly increases to 100% once the target has only 10% or less of its health remaining. These percentages are based on the target's base health -- targets with large health boosts from powers can effectively delay the point at which Scourge damage starts being possible.

Shadow Recall

You can Teleport one of your teammates to yourself. The target must be a teammate and can be selected from the Team Window. You can also rescue a fallen teammate who may be in a hostile location, as long as he is on the same map. Range is not infinite, but extremely long and can be enhanced. This power can be interrupted. Also See: Recall Friend

Supremacy

A good Mastermind knows how to manage his Henchmen. The Mastermind imparts a bonus to his Henchmen's Accuracy and Damage only if he is nearby and not Phased or otherwise can only use Self Only powers. Additionally, your Henchmen within range in Defensive mode will share damage with the Mastermind, with damage being divided evenly between the Mastermind and each one of his Henchmen in range.

Vigilance

The Defender's primary focus is to protect the team. When his allies are in danger, the Defender is able to look deep within him or herself and rise to the occasion. As a Defender's teammates are in danger of being defeated, the Defender gains an Endurance Discount and can activate their powers at a reduced cost. The more teammates in trouble, the greater the discount.

Vigilance was introduced on September 20, 2005. As a Defender's teammates lose health, the Defender gains an Endurance discount. This power does not need to be activated. The more injured the Defender's teammates are, on average, and the larger his team is, the greater the discount Vigilance provides. The Defender's own health does not affect Vigilance, nor do teammates who are on other maps or who are too far away.

In Issue 17, in addition to the endurance discount, Defenders gained a variable damage bonus based on level and team size, with the largest bonus for being solo and level 20 or higher. A defender on a small team or by himself has more freedom to concentrate on his enemies, which allows him to increase his damage output by up to 30%. Each additional team member reduces this bonus, to a minimum of no buff at all at three or more teammates.

Vigilance can be monitored as "Endurance Discount" and "Damage Bonus" in the Combat Attributes window. The formula for calculating your total endurance discount is Cost/(1 + bonus), So a 100% discount would halve the cost of powers. A simple chart can be found here. There is debate on what the maximum amount of discount Vigilance will accrue.

Going Rogue Complete Edition Power

Shadowy Presence

Shadowy Presence

Activating this power shifts you into a semi-real shadow-state. So long as you are not attacked and remain motionless, you will have extremely good stealth rating and be nearly invisible. This power has a long, interruptible cast time and always takes 10 minutes to recharge.

Recharge

10 minutes

Effects

Toggle: Self +Stealth

Model Replacement Costume Powers

Model Replacement Costume Powers are permanent toggle powers that replace the entire character model with an NPC from the game, up to and including body/gender and all associated animations/sounds. These replacement models are mutually exclusive with each other and with stealth toggle powers; turning one on will turn the other off. Players may obtain these powers through meeting the development and community teams at conventions and meet and greets, through contests on the Official Forums or social networking sites, or through the Paragon Market. Temporary versions of most of these powers are available during the Halloween Event.

Good vs. Evil Bonus Powers

Jump Pack

This Jump Pack grants you the ability to not only jump great distances, but also jump and gain altitude in mid air! The Jump Pack will automatically shut down after 30 seconds of continuous use.

Effects

Self Toggle

+Jump

+Fly

Special

Pocket D VIP Pass

You've been given a VIP Pass to Pocket D. It will allow you to access Pocket D from anywhere. It is usable once every 30 minutes.

Super Booster Powers

Beast Run

Show off your bestial nature by using this power. This power is not as fast as Super Speed, nor will it allow you to jump as well as Super Leap, however it is considerably better than the Fitness powers Swift and Hurdle.

While toggled on, Beast Run replaces your normal at-ease posture with a heavy breathing crouch, but does not interfere with emotes.

To distinguish it visually from other running powers, the forward and backward running animations are on 'all fours' running style, typical of a four-legged animal gait. Additionally, when running backward, the character actually turns to face the camera.

Mystic Fortune

You can read the fortune of any player. This grants a random permanent buff for 20 minutes, and they may not have their fortune read again during that time.

Mystic Fortune grants a random "Fortune" buff to your target. Like Vengeance, it cannot be stacked multiple times. The buffs granted by Mystic Fortune are based on the Major Arcana of the Tarot, though not all of the Major Arcana are represented. When cast, the target is given a confirmation box before the fortune is granted.

Ninja Run

A combination of quickness and acrobatic grace, Ninja Run allows you to move at high speed, whether on the ground or leaping from rooftop to rooftop. This power is not as fast as Super Speed, nor will it allow you to jump as well as Super Leap, however it is considerably better than the Fitness powers Swift and Hurdle.

While toggled on, Ninja Run replaces your normal at-ease posture with a crouch, but does not interfere with emotes.

To distinguish it visually from other leaping powers, you perform a flip at the top of your arc when jumping. There are three different jumping animations: jumping forward, jumping backward, and jumping diagonally.

To distinguish it visually from other running powers, the forward and backward running animations are an anime running style, stereotypical for anime ninja type characters. Additionally, when running backward, the character actually turns to face the camera and looks over their shoulder instead of actually running backward.

Secondary Mutation

You acquire a secondary mutation. This grants a random permanent buff for up to 20 minutes. No more than one Secondary Mutation can be in place at a time.

Like Mystic Fortune, Secondary Mutation gives a random buff that lasts for 20 minutes, with a possibility of a drawback from using the power. Unlike Mystic Fortune, it is a self-buff power, simulating mutations in the caster. The drawback (devolving into a Rikti Monkey) has an extremely low chance of occurrence, only lasts one minute instead of 20, and automatically refreshes Secondary Mutation when it wears off instead of having to wait the full 20 minute recharge.

Self Destruction

Some situations call for the ultimate sacrifice...self-destruction. This causes damage to those around you and sends your character to the hospital.

Self Destruction is not affected by enhancements or any buff except Knockback, ToHit, and Accuracy. It should be noted that its recharge is not affected by buffs. It is permanent, available at character creation, and does not have usage charges. Debt does not accrue from a Self Destruct. It should also be noted that the description "sends your character to the hospital" is inaccurate; your character remains immobile and untargetable until you choose to go to the hospital, or use an Inspiration or Self-Rez power, or revived by a resurrection power from another character which does not require a target, such as Howling Twilight.

Steam Jump

Your steam powered jump pack grants you the ability to not only jump great distances, but also jump and gain altitude in mid air! The Jump Pack will automatically shut down after 30 seconds of continuous use.

Effects

Self Toggle

+Jump

+Fly

Special

Steam Jump is available only with the purchase of the Steampunk Pack expansion.

Rest

Activate Rest to heal Hit Points and recover Endurance. While Resting you cannot attack, and you are extremely vulnerable to attack and damage. Activation of Rest can be interrupted, and the power must be active for a few seconds before you start to recuperate.

Heroes and Villains receive this ability on advancing to Security/Threat Level 2.

Minimum Level

2

Recharge

3 mins

Effects

Self Heal Recover

-Defense

Enhancements

Enhance Endurance Modification

Increase Attack Rate

Enhance Heal

Reduce Interrupt Time

Set Categories

None

Sprint

Sprint allows you to run slightly faster than normal, while slightly draining your Endurance. You may have to Toggle this off in combat to conserve Endurance.

Walk

Activating this power enables you to walk at a relaxed pace. You will not be able to activate most powers while walking. You may not be targeted by Mystic Fortune while this power is active.

Heroes and Villains receive this ability on advancing to Security/Threat Level 2. This power was added in Issue 16.

Minimum Level

2

Effects

Toggle: Walk

Enhancements

None

Set Categories

None

Fitness

Beginning in Issue 19, all the powers of the FitnessPower Pool have been made inherent. All four powers are granted at level 2. They can be enhanced like other universal inherent powers such as Rest and Sprint.

Characters already using the Fitness pool can continue to do so as normal. Using a respec on these characters will remove the ability to take the Fitness pool.

Characters which had never selected the Fitness pool or brand new characters automatically have all the Fitness pool powers added.

Paragon Rewards Powers

Paragon Rewards powers are additional inherent powers that a player may claim once his or her account has been active for a certain length of time. For more information, see Paragon Rewards Powers.